FAIR FUNERAL PLEDGE | CAMPAIGNING PACK
QSA
Funeral poverty| Why we need to act
Last year the price of funeral rose nearly as quickly as house prices. The average price for a
basic funeral is now £3,702. Funeral costs have soared at the same time as support from the
state has dwindled. This means too many people are struggling to afford a decent send off
for someone they love.
And this problem is set to get a lot worse. Factors like an aging population, funeral inflation,
a projected rise in death rates and flat-lining incomes mean that in the future more and
more of us won’t be able to afford bury our loved ones.
What about the state safety net?
Compared to other European countries, there is a big gap in the UK between the rising cost
of funerals and the support available from the state. The state grant now only covers around
35% of the overall cost of an average funeral. So even people awarded a grant are left with
huge unmanageable debts. These debts often get in the way of a person’s ability to grieve.
James’s story
"After my wife lost her long battle with cancer I had no idea how I was going to raise
the money for her funeral. I had been left with four school age children and because
I'd been my wife's main carer and had to give up work, our savings were almost all
gone. I was really shocked when our local funeral director quoted me £6,300 for a
burial. I had no idea that I could’ve got a very similar funeral for thousands of pounds
less if I’d gone to a different funeral director.
The government had turned me down for a Social Fund Funeral Payment but Down
to Earth advisers helped me appeal and eventually after six months I was awarded
£1,650 to help clear my debt. I've still got quite a bit to pay off, which I’m doing
through a payment plan of £12.50 a week. Having this debt hanging over me is a
painful reminder of my wife’s death.”
FAIR FUNERAL PLEDGE | CAMPAIGNING PACK
QSA
What can we do about it?
Funeral poverty has been ignored for too long. We need your help to end the silence and
stop so many people being sold funerals they can’t afford.
Quaker Social Action has launched the Fair Funerals campaign to:



Educate people about their choices so they can avoid funeral poverty
Influence government to do more for people in funeral poverty
Work with the funeral industry to do more for people on low incomes
The Fair Funerals pledge is part of the Fair Funerals campaign.
How will the pledge work?
When people are bereaved, they don’t make savvy consumers. Often funeral directors don’t
provide clear, comparable information about prices and don’t make their most affordable
funeral visible to the public. There are also huge differences in the prices they charge.
Without clear prices people don’t know what they’re buying and end up with funerals they
can’t afford.
The pledge is a FREE and VOLUNTARY way for funeral directors to address this problem. It
asks them to provide clear prices and make affordable options visible so people can access
them easily and without stigma. The pledge celebrates socially conscious funeral directors
and challenges the rest of the industry to raise their game.
Why we need your help
Funeral directors will always be interested in what people in their communities think – so
you’re in the best position to influence the way they run their business.
If the pledge is going to make a big impact for people struggling to afford a funeral, we need
your help.
We’re asking you to contact your funeral director and talk to them about signing the pledge.
campaign by east London anti-poverty charity Quaker Social Action.
FAIR FUNERAL PLEDGE | CAMPAIGNING PACK
QSA
How to take action
For a small amount of time you can make a big difference to local people struggling with
expensive, confusing funeral costs.
Make first contact


Contact funeral directors in your area and ask them to sign the pledge – we
recommend first of all speaking to them over the phone or in person.
Email your funeral director about the pledge – download a template email/letter
from this page (second blue button):
http://fairfuneralscampaign.org.uk/content/ask-my-funeral-director-sign
Following suit
Let funeral directors know who else has signed the pledge – once some sign others are
much more likely to follow suit.
Resistance to the pledge?
If the funeral director is part of a larger company, contact their head office and speak to
them directly about the pledge. This will show the bigger companies how much public
support there is for the pledge.
Spread the word
Speak to people in your community about funeral poverty and fair funerals. Raise
people’s awareness of funeral poverty and find common allies who can help you take
action. The more people you can bring in, the more impact you will have!
You can find resources to help you take these actions here:
http://fairfuneralscampaign.org.uk/content/ask-my-funeral-director-sign
A funeral director who signs the pledge is agreeing:
To recognise that funerals can be expensive and many people struggle with the
cost.
To help people to find funerals that are within their means.
To be open about their most affordable options, including third party costs:
 in initial conversations
 within our price lists
 on our website.
Any problems?
Get in touch, we’re happy to offer advice. Email [email protected] or call 0208 983
5051.
campaign by east London anti-poverty charity Quaker Social Action.
FAIR FUNERAL PLEDGE | CAMPAIGNING PACK
QSA
Tips| Talking to funeral directors
Most funeral directors we approach are very positive about the Fair Funerals pledge. The
aim of the pledge is not to criticise funeral directors, but to help people have access to
funerals they can afford and avoid debt.
Before you speak to a funeral director its worth finding out whether they are independent
or owned by a larger managing company such as Cooperative Funeralcare or Dignity. This
might make a difference to your approach.

On behalf of our community, we would like to work with local funeral directors to make
affordable options and transparent prices more freely available to people on low
incomes.

We recognise there is an inescapable cost attached to a funeral and funeral directors
have to make a profit.

When people are bereaved they can struggle to take in information and make decisions.
That’s why transparent, comparable information on prices is so important.

There are many brilliant funeral directors already doing great things to help people
afford funerals. We want to celebrate these practices and make them more common.

The pledge benefits both bereaved customers and the funeral industry. It benefits
funeral directors because it gives a boost to their reputation and public profile. This is
why [mention local funeral directors who’ve already pledged] have already signed up.

Making a more affordable option visible to customers is in the best interests of funeral
directors because it avoids people buying funerals they can’t afford. This leads to bad
debt which is a big cause for concern in the industry.

The increase in funeral costs is partly due to an increase in fees charged by religious
leaders, doctors, crematoria and cemeteries. But advisers for Down to Earth (QSA’s
project supporting people in funeral poverty) are often able to bring the price of a
funeral down by about a third. The most significant reason for this decrease is the
difference in funeral director’s fees.

A crucial strength of the pledge campaign is that our ‘ask’ to the industry is so
reasonable. So we encourage you to be positive and reasonable in your conversations
with funeral directors.
campaign by east London anti-poverty charity Quaker Social Action.
FAIR FUNERAL PLEDGE | CAMPAIGNING PACK
QSA
Spreading the word
The more you spread the word and share any success you’ve had with the pledge, the
bigger impact it will have for people struggling to afford a funeral.
Speak to your funeral directors
Funeral directors are most likely to commit to the pledge if they know it matters to people
in their community. One of the best ways to keep funeral directors on side and get others to
follow suit is to publicly thank them for signing.




Celebrate funeral directors that sign the pledge by announcing it on your website,
over social media, in your newsletter, etc.
Announce it to local media – download a template press release from the ‘Local
Campaigners’ section of the QSA website
Establish an ongoing contact at your funeral directors to see how they’re getting on
implementing the pledge.
You might also want to write to the managing company or the trade body they’re
members of to ask their position on the pledge.
Bring people in



Speak to friends, family and other people you know about the pledge. Are they
willing to get involved in taking action? Ask them to call or email funeral directors
about the pledge.
Ask any organisations or groups you’re in touch with to help raise awareness of the
pledge.
Encourage anyone who’s passionate about the pledge to become a vocal advocate –
this could be funeral directors, neighbours, or members of local groups.
Let us know
Tell us about what you’ve done with the pledge and what happened. Have you learned
anything? What success have you had?
We’ll help you celebrate on our website and across social media. Let us know by emailing us
at [email protected]
Keep up the pressure
If you want to make sure funeral directors are sticking to the pledge, carry out some
mystery shopping. We encourage people to do this every 6-12 months.
Tweet about the Fair Funerals pledge!
Follow twitter.com/endfuneralpov
Use the hashtag #fairfunerals
campaign by east London anti-poverty charity Quaker Social Action.